Chargers sweep Wildcats in Fight for 518

LEAGUE CITY — After splitting the Fight for 518 rivalry on the basketball court with Clear Creek last season, the Clear Springs Chargers had other plans in mind Friday night.

The Chargers held off the Wildcats to sweep the series and knock their bitter rivals out of playoff contention with a 47-40 victory in front of a packed home gym.

Despite the fact Clear Springs was the clear favorite at 7-5 in District 24-5A and Clear Creek was 5-7, Chargers coach Chris Johnson made sure his players didn’t take the Wildcats lightly.

“When it’s a rivalry like this, you can throw records out the window,” Johnson said. “The kids all know each other and get into it. They don’t want to lose this one.”

Clear Creek showed resiliency but failed to hit big shots in the end. Clear Creek coach Jeff Carroll said the game was decided when Clear Springs power forward Jeff Beverly started dominating in the paint. Beverly finished the game with 15 points and 17 rebounds.

“He was scoring and we weren’t,” Carroll said. “We’re undermanned at times, but our guys put it all on the line no matter the odds, and it shows a lot about the character they have.”

For Clear Creek, Colby Davis and Austin Smith both scored nine points, Dion Lewis scored seven, Chris Holton scored six, and Brian McIntyre and Mitchell Becker both scored four.

Corey Smith added nine points for the Chargers, Ladarius Carpenter had eight and Avery Grimes, Parker Callender and Lee Kerlegan each scored three points.

Clear Springs clinched a playoff spot by knocking Clear Creek out of the postseason race with less than a week left of the regular season.

“I feel like we’re going to make a deep run,” Johnson said. “A lot of things are starting to click for us right now and we’re ready.”